Diablo 3 Announced As First Third Party Game to Use the Nintendo Switch Online Service

Nintendo’s online service for the Switch, Nintendo Switch Online, debuts in about a month from now. So far, there are a lot of details about what games will actually be compatible with the service. Nintendo themselves have named multiple first party games, such as Splatoon 2, Pokemon Let’s Go! Pikachu and Pokemmon Let’s Go! Eevee, Mario Tennis Aces, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, as being among the games that will need the service. The status of third party games has been less clear, however.

Now, we have received our first explicit confirmation of a third party game that will use Nintendo Switch Online. As Game Informer reported, Diablo 3: Eternal Collection on the Switch uses Nintendo Switch Online for cloud save backups, lobbies through the phone app, and voice chat through the phone app- no native system voice chat for Diablo 3 on Switch (unlike with Fortnite).

While Nintendo’s decision to stick with their entirely backwards online setup is insane, to me it’s even more astonishing that third parties are going along with it. Especially a third party like Blizzard, which, with products like World of Warcraft and Battle.Net, has been on the cutting edge of the online gaming wave in the past.